The recent report, Any new kids at the trough? shows the Government is spending more than ever on corporate welfare.

“The average household is paying $752 this year in what are effectively government handouts to favoured businesses,” says ACT Leader David Seymour.

“These handouts, totalling $1.34 billion, include payments for sheep given to a Saudi businessman, rockets launched off the Coromandel, and a boat-building company owned by Larry Ellison, the world’s sixth-richest man.

Next week's Budget will show continued steady progress away from the massive deficits associated with the aftermath of the global financial crisis and Christchurch earthquakes. The National government will continue to make incremental gains, albeit from a firmly centrist political position.

For every halting step forward, there will continue to be the occasional step backwards.

New Zealand doesn’t need a policy revolution, but we need much more than this tentative incremental change.

Next week's Budget will show continued steady progress away from the massive deficits associated with the aftermath of the global financial crisis and Christchurch earthquakes. The National government will continue to make incremental gains, albeit from a firmly centrist political position.

For every halting step forward, there will continue to be the occasional step backwards.

New Zealand doesn’t need a policy revolution, but we need much more than this tentative incremental change.

The English version of Thomas Piketty’s book, Capital in the Twenty-First Century, was published in April. It provided an impressive collection of historical data on trends in wealth distribution. Much less impressive was the interpretation of the data and the theory that went with it.

This is the first issue of what will be a regular newsletter, commenting on and reacting to political and other issues. On this occasion, the topic is the debate over social housing reform, one where opposition politicians and many commentators seem hopelessly confused over what is, and is not, important.